Tenorio Volcano, Costa Rica

Volcano Type: Stratovolcanoes
Volcano Status: Holocene
Last Known Eruption: Unknown
Summit Elevation: 1916 m 6,286 feet
Latitude: 10.673°N  10°40’22″N
Longitude: 85.015°W 85°0’54″W

The 225 sq km dominantly andesitic Tenorio volcanic massif anchors the SE end of the Guanacaste Range and consists of a cluster of densely forested NNW-SSE-trending volcanic cones. Overlapping lava flows from the principal peak, Tenorio, blanket the NW-to-SW flanks and descend the NE flank. The NW-most of three craters of the central cone is sparsely vegetated and appears to be the most recently active. Volcán Montezuma to the north has twin craters, the northern of which fed a lava flow to the NE. Additional pyroclastic cones are found to the NE and SW of the central complex, and the Bijagua lava domes were constructed on the northern flank. A major debris avalanche covered about 100 sq km below the southern flank of the volcano. A legend exists of an eruption in 1816, but the volcano was densely forested at the time of an 1864 visit by Seebach and is not considered to have erupted in historical time. Fumarolic activity is present on the NE flank.

The densely forested Tenorio volcanic complex forms a group of volcanic cones at the SE end of the Guanacaste Range. Only the NW crater of the central cone is sparsely vegetated. The age of the most recent eruption of the Tenorio group is not known. A legend exists of an eruption in 1816, but the volcano was densely forested at the time of an 1864 visit by Seebach and is not considered to have erupted in historical time. Fumarolic activity is present on the NE flank.

Tenorio Volcano

Tenorio Volcano (Ronald Zúñiga)

View of Tenorio Volcano from the east side (Daniel Jimenez)

Originally posted 2010-07-06 16:41:32.